Three new books, in brief

A major perk of the blogging lifestyle is that a lot of free books arrive on my desk. While we're in the spirit of exercising more, eating better, and getting to that bookstack on the bedside table, here are a few you might add to the pile:

• Make Poverty Business: Increase Profits and Reduce Risks by Engaging with the Poor, by Craig Wilson and Peter Wilson. This slim volume takes Prahalad's bottom of the pyramid philosophy and makes it actionable for the business manager who lives in blissful ignorance of international development jargon. A great airplane read, it also avoids the "well, duh" statements that infect so many management books. I highly recommend it. (And I'm not saying nice things just because they've syndicated our posts on their blog. Not that it hurts, aspiring authors.)
• You Can Hear Me Now: How Microloans and Cell Phones are Connecting the World's Poor to the Global Economy, by Nicholas Sullivan. Another quick read, the first half of this book tells the GrameenPhone story, the second is a grab-bag of other technology initiatives, including many players in the m-banking world. If the Nobel Prize win peaked your interest in all things Grameen, buy a copy when it comes out next month. In general, I'm not too sure that a book is the best format for telling these stories - hard to give substantive coverage to a field that moves so quickly in time. Fortunately, Nick also has a blog.
• At Loggerheads? Agricultural Expansion, Poverty Reduction, and Environment in the Tropical Forests, by Kenneth Chomitz. This World Bank publication addresses the tension between poverty reduction and environmental protection - something that I've always wanted to read more about. Considering strictly the tropical forest context, the book's conclusion is that we need better institutions to manage forests, enforce property rights and promote carbon finance. This is one of the World Bank books intended for a general audience, as opposed to the denser variety that appeals primarily to academics. Highly recommended if you're interested in environmental issues or rural development. No blog, but extras include maps, video, and a podcast.